


Y is for Yankee

by Dusty_Skyes



Series: Letters of the Rainbow [25]
Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: AU, How do I even tag?, M/M, Please Don't Ask, Slash, Sorry Not Sorry, jak's a little round the bend, looping, lots of time travel, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:31:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9661451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusty_Skyes/pseuds/Dusty_Skyes
Summary: Time is a tricky thing. It's constantly changing, looping, swirling around itself, always shifting around and around. One little thing can change the biggest of moments. A missed race can destroy the entire line, a changed plan can change the entire world.





	

 

* * *

 

Time is a tricky thing. It's constantly changing, looping, swirling around itself, always shifting around and around. One little thing can change the biggest of moments. A missed race can destroy the entire line, a changed plan can change the entire world. And since time is always moving, loops can happen. Moments of time that are always repeating themselves, around and around forever. People who end up in loops are usually the ones that can make it out of them still sane. The problem is, they never stay in the loop for long. If they do, it drives them insane, slowly, one repeating loop at a time. Him? He's a Looper. It's the name given to those who successfully come out of their fiftieth loop still sane.

That was exactly 3,457 loops ago.

Staring up at the sky, he keened, long and low. Blood was seeping through his fingers currently clutching his side. He felt his last breath slide away and prayed that it was over.

The next thing Jak knew, he was being yanked through the Precursor Gate along with Kiera, Samos, and Daxter, separating just like they had done before. A sigh escaped his lips as they landed on the streets of Haven City. Or rather, he landed silently and pretended to look around in amazement. Daxter was sprawled out on the cobblestones, swearing loudly that he would never mess around with Precursor junk again. The sound of footsteps echoed loudly behind them and Jak turned around to once again see the Krimzon Guards heading their way, Erol at the lead. And once again it had all gone as before. Daxter had escaped with a halfhearted promise that he'd rescue Jak, and the blond was taken away by the Baron's men.

They hadn't actually hit Jak hard enough to knock him out this time, so the blond was currently trying to contain the whimpers of pain that wanted to escape his mouth. One of the Krimzon Guards had slung his body over their shoulder and were quickly making their way back to the palace. Mar above, their armor was _uncomfortable_. The spike on the shoulder guard dug into the side of his stomach, exactly where the wound from his last death was –mostly healed, but still there– and a high pitched whimper escaped his mouth. Erol screeched to a halt. “Did you hear that?” He tilted his head, ears twitching from side to side as he tried to figure out where the noise had come from.

“No sir.” There was a series of 'No's that followed shorty after that statement and Erol sighed. He was positive that he had heard it. But the redhead had no idea where it had come from. Their quarry was out cold, and he needed to get him to the Baron as soon as he could. Grumbling slightly, he began to walk forward, making the 'Follow Me' gesture over his shoulder as he went.

**oOo**

The Baron's palace was large. He would have gotten lost if he hadn't spent several hours making a map of this place when he was younger. Making his way to the center of the castle, Erol noted that the Baron wasn't in the best of moods today. The screams from the prisoners down below were just loud enough for him to catch the faint sounds with his ears. None of the other guards noticed. He glanced at the boy thrown across the nearest Guard's shoulder and sighed. Such a shame, he really was such a pretty little thing.

When the Baron made his way into the throne room, Erol stood to attention and saluted him. “We've caught the prisoner, sir.”

The Baron nodded slowly. “Well done, Commander.” Erol glanced at the guard holding the boy and gestured. Instantly the small body was dumped unceremoniously on the floor. He then bowed and left, the other Krimzon Guards following him silently out, until there was no one else in the room. “Well then, this is the child that shall kill me?” He laughed, low and deep, a sound of true amusement. Erol just shook his head.

“He doesn't look like it, Baron Praxis.”

The Baron reached down enough to grab Jak by the roots of his hair and yank his body up off of the ground. Erol's lips twitched into a smirk. Jak barely fought back the scream that threatened to burst from his throat, somehow managing to keep his eyes relaxed as if in sleep. He felt his body reconnect with the ground and let his head sag enough to rest against the cool tiles. “Doesn't he?”

“What do you want me to do with him, Commander?”

“Have a guard move him to his cell. We'll restart the Dark Warrior Program in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.” And then Jak was lifted up, flung over a less painful, non-spiked shoulder and the person, he suspected it was Erol, began to walk down a flight of stairs. Jak mentally rolled his eyes, the Baron was as much of an ass as he remembered, but Erol didn't seem that bad. But then again, he'd gone through the same damn loop now more than 3500 times, and therefore didn't have the Black or White outlook on the world that he used to have. There were times when Jak wished that he still had that simpler mentality. That Praxis and Kor were black, Daxter and Kiera were white. But Erol, Gol, Torn, Jinx, and Razer were all different shades of gray, some darker than others.

The moment Jak was sure that he was alone, he rolled over and yanked up his shirt. There on his side, what used to be a fatal wound, was a much smaller one, surrounded by a deep greenish yellow bruise. A low noise of irritation fell through Jak's lips. He still had his Dark Eco abilities, but they had been locked away, only a set amount of the Dark Eco the Baron would pump into him would reopen Dark Jak's pathways. They could still talk to each other, the same with Light, but until Jak was able to get a full dose of Light and Dark Eco, they wouldn't be able to come out.

_**“Hey, Nacht, Sonne. I'm bored.”** _

_“As am I. What should we do?”_

**“We could kill something.”**

Jak snorted under his breath, moving so that he could sit up against the wall.  _**“I don't have access to either of your abilities yet, and in case you didn't notice, we're kind of in a fucking fortress.”** _

_ “At least it won't be hard to kill the Baron.” _ Light snickered from the back of Jak's mind.

_**“At least Erol doesn't have spiked shoulder pads. Those things fucking hurt.”** _ Jak winced slightly, ignoring the howling laughter of his other sides. There was the faintest shift of movement in front of him and Jak glanced up. Distantly he could hear the calls from Nacht and Sonne, but the blond was more focused on meeting the stare of the Commander standing on the other side of the bars. 

“You're awake.” He seemed surprised.

**oOo**

As soon as he had placed the blond in his cell, Erol had headed up towards his own private quarters. A bath was very much desired. As the redhead passed the Security Camera Room, he happened to glance at the screen for the cameras in the cells. To his surprise, the blond was awake and rolling over. Erol turned around instantly, heading back down to the cells. He was curious as to how the blond was awake. Standing in front of the blond's cell, he stared at the young man who was deep in thought until he was noticed. “You're awake.”

“I am.”

“I thought you would be out longer.” Erol's smile widened. “I do so love a toy that won't fall asleep on me.”

Jak snorted. “I prefer 'experiment', not 'toy', thank you very much. At least it doesn't sound perverted.”

Erol flushed indignantly before letting another smirk cross his lips. “Well then, I suppose I'll have to find a nickname for you.” He paused, tapping his chin with a finger as if he was thinking. “Since we'll be turning you into a Dark Warrior, why not Eco Freak?”

Jak blinked. He had kind of missed that nickname after Erol had died. Yanking himself out of his thoughts, the blond shrugged lazily and said, “Ehh. I've had worse.”

Erol felt the grin slip off of his face. That was **not** the reaction he had expected. His anger began to seethe below the surface of his skin and the commander turned away from the cage in fury. Jak had the distinct feeling that he wasn't going to enjoy tomorrow. 

He was right. Erol had him yanked from his cell well before dawn and restrained to the table. Jak was completely unprepared for  these newer experiments. They **hurt**. Faintly Jak could hear Nacht roaring in anger as his host was harmed, but he wasn't able to absorb all the Dark Eco that was flooding Jak's body. This went on for hours. 

Unable to take it anymore, Jak's mind did the one thing it had never done before. It broke.

And the time line instantly changed.

 


End file.
